Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Southwest Airlines shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Southwest Airlines offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Southwest Airlines at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Southwest Airlines? Wrong! If the Southwest Airlines is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Southwest Airlines then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Southwest Airlines? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Southwest Airlines and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Southwest Airlines wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Southwest Airlines then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Southwest Airlines site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Southwest Airlines, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Southwest Airlines, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox_Airline|airline=Southwest Airlines|logo=Southwest Airlines Logo.svg|logo_size=300px|fleet_size=512|destinations=64|IATA=WN|ICAO=SWA|callsign=SOUTHWEST|parent=|company_slogan =A Symbol of Freedom|founded=1971, [Texas ([Chief executive officer)
Herb Kelleher (Chairman)
Laura Wright (Southwest CFO) (Chief Financial Officer)
Colleen Barrett (President)]
Chicago Midway International Airport
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Oakland International Airport
William P. Hobby Airport
Dallas Love Field
Los Angeles International Airport
Orlando International Airport
San Diego International Airport|lounge=|alliance=|website= http://www.southwest.com-->Southwest Airlines Co. () is an [United States Low-cost carrier based in Dallas, Texas, with its largest focus city at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. It is the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically per year and the World's largest airlines#By scheduled passengers carried by number of passengers carried. It is also the 6th largest U.S. airline by revenue. It also maintains the World's largest airlines#By fleet size in 2007 among all of the world's commercial airlines.

Southwest Airlines has carried more customers than any other U.S. airline since August 2006 for combined domestic and international passengers according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.Southwest has maintained this rating every month that statistics have been released. Southwest Airlines Industry Standings Southwest Airlines is one of the world's most profitable airlines and in January 2007, posted a profit for the 34th consecutive year. Its reputation for low prices and a #Corporate culture atmosphere have made it an icon of popular culture.

History Southwest Airlines was originally incorporated to serve three cities in Texas as Air Southwest on March 15, 1967, by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. According to frequently-cited legend, King described the concept to Kelleher over dinner by drawing on a paper napkin a triangle symbolizing the routes.(Dallas, Houston, San Antonio){{cite news | author = Gayle Sato Stodder | title = Making people count: Southwest Airlines - Company Profile | date = | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_n9_v25/ai_19892335 | accessdate = 2007-06-10 -->

Some of the incumbent airlines of the time (Braniff, Trans-Texas Airways, and Continental Airlines) initiated legal action, and thus began a three-year legal battle to keep Air Southwest on the ground. Air Southwest eventually prevailed in the Texas Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld Air Southwest's right to fly in Texas.Reversed and injunction denied, Texas Aeronautical Commission et al. v. Braniff Airways et al., 454 S.W. 2d 199 (Supreme Court of Texas, May 13, 1970) The decision became final on December 7, 1970, when the Supreme Court of the United States declined to review the case without comment.Certiorari denied, 400 U.S. 943 (1970) That date is considered by many to be the de facto beginning of deregulation in the airline industry.

The story of Southwest's legal fight was turned into a children's book, Gumwrappers and Goggles by Winifred Barnum in 1983. In the story, TJ Love, a small jet, is taken to court by two larger jets to keep him from their hangar, and then to try and stop him from flying at all. Taken to court, TJ Love's right to fly is upheld after an impassioned plea from The Lawyer. While no company names are mentioned in the book, TJ Love's colors are those of Southwest Airlines, and the two other jets are colored in Braniff and Continental's colors. The Lawyer is designed to resemble Herb Kelleher. The book was adapted into a stage musical, Show your Spirit, sponsored by Southwest Airlines, and played only in towns serviced by the airline.

Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher studied Pacific Southwest Airlines extensively and used many of the airline's ideas to form the corporate culture at Southwest, and even on early flights used the same "Long Legs And Short Nights" theme for stewardesses on board typical Southwest Airlines flights.

The airline adopted the first profit-sharing plan in the U.S. airline industry in 1973. Through this plan and others, employees own about 10 percent of the company stock.

The airline is about 87 percent unionized. The pilots are represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association, a union separate from the much larger ALPA union.

First flights In early 1971, Air Southwest changed its name to Southwest Airlines, and the first flight was on June 18, 1971. Its first flights were from Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas to Houston, Texas and San Antonio, Texas, short hops with no-frills service and a simple fare structure, features that became the basis for Southwest's popularity and rapid growth in the coming years.

The start of service in June 1971 was accomplished with three Boeing 737 aircraft; a fourth was added in September of the same year.

Over time, Southwest has added improved 737 variants but has stayed within the Boeing 737 family to hold down operating costs. Because this technique simplified training, maintenance, and ground operations, it revolutionized the industry's approach to building aircraft fleets.

In January 2005, Southwest retired its last 737-200, the oldest type in its fleet. To celebrate "putting the -200s to bed", selected employees donned Southwest pajamas for an early morning flight to celebrate the final landing at Dallas Love.

Early losses and financial troubles The rest of 1971 and 1972 saw operating losses. One of the four aircraft was sold to Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) and the proceeds used to make payroll and cover other expenses. Southwest continued to operate a schedule predicated on four aircraft but using only three, and in so doing the "ten minute turn" was born, and was the standard ground time for many years.

Southwest turned its first annual profit in 1973, and has done so every year since — a record unmatched by any other commercial airline. Southwest has used financial techniques such as fuel hedging to bolster its profitability and counteract many of the fiscal disadvantages of operating an airline.

By 1979 Southwest served all of the cities currently served in Texas, plus Beaumont and interstate service began to New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Tulsa was added shortly thereafter. In 1981 Southwest co-launched the Boeing 737#737-300 with USAir. In 1982 the first expansion beyond the Texas area took Southwest to the West Coast, adding Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego. In 1984 the 737-300 was placed into service. Chicago Midway and St. Louis service began in March, 1985, spreading low-fare service into Midwest markets.

Southwest hired its first African-American pilot, Louis Freeman, in 1980. In 1992, he was named the first African-American chief pilot of any major U.S. airline.{{cite news | title = BWI Airport and Southwest Airlines Salute African American Aviation Pioneers - 1st African American Chief Pilot, 1st African American President of female flying organization highlight Feb. 24 program | publisher = Baltimore/Washington International Airport | date = [2005-02-05 | url = http://www.bwiairport.com/press_room/press_releases/106/ | accessdate = 2006-06-09 -->



Hedging fuel Southwest has a longtime program to Hedge (finance) Jet fuel prices. It has purchased fuel Option (finance) years in advance to smooth out fluctuations in fuel costs.

In 2000, Southwest said it had "adjusted its hedging strategy" to "utilize financial derivative instruments... when it appears the Company can take advantage of market conditions." Additionally, the company hoped to "take advantage of historically low jet fuel prices." SEC statement Southwest's decision proved to be a prescient and, for a time, extremely profitable effort.

To lock in the low historical prices Southwest believed were occurring at that time, Southwest used a mixture of swaps and call options to secure fuel in future years while paying prices they believed were low. The company also stated that with this new strategy, it faced substantial risks if the oil prices continued to go down, but they did not. Previously, Southwest had been more interested in reducing volatility of oil prices. Now, they hoped to reap large gains from oil price appreciation.

In 2001, Southwest again substantially increased its hedging in response to projections of increased crude oil prices. The use of these hedges helped Southwest maintain its profitability during the oil shocks related to the Iraq War and later Hurricane Katrina.

According an annual report, here is the company's fuel hedge for forward years ("approximate" per barrel basis, as of mid-January): 2007 is 95% hedged at $50/barrel; 2008 is 65% hedged at $49/barrel; 2009 is over 50% hedged at $51/barrel; 2010 is over 25% hedged at $63/barrel; 2011 is over is 15% hedged at $64/barrel; 2012 is 15% hedged at $63/barrel.

According to its 2006 Annual Report, Southwest paid low prices for fuel thanks to the benefit of fuel hedges:

These are well below market rates, which Southwest factors into its low operating costs. However, this below-market oil cost will not continue forever; executives have said that Southwest faces increased exposure to the raw oil market every year. This is not a good sign for the airline, which is also facing tough competition from US legacy carriers that have lowered costs through bankruptcy. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly has decided to slow the airlines' growth as a response to this cost.

Risk managers find it difficult to endorse the style of profit-motivated energy trading Southwest did between 1999 and the early 2000s. Risk managers have suggested{{cite news | author = Carlos Blanco | coauthors = J. Lehman and N. Shimoda | title = Airlines Hedging Strategies: The Shareholder Value Perspective | date = | url = http://www.commodities-now.com/content/market-areas/general/ma-article-8.pdf | accessdate = 2007-06-10--> that rather than hedging business risk, (such as a hedge on weather to a farmer), Southwest was simply speculating on energy prices, without a formal rationale for doing so. As an airline company, the goal of "taking advantage" of the commodity market's flaws was quite unusual. Hedge or no hedge, the long-term speculative outcome does not lessen the [marginal cost of monthly flight operations. If flights lost money at market prices, they still would be canceled to maximize shareholder value -- since, crucially, the fuel hedges could be sold for cash on the open market.

At present, Southwest has enjoyed much positive press (and a strong financial boost) from its energy trading skills. However, while most analysts agree that volatility hedges can be beneficial, speculative hedges are not widely supported as a continuing strategy for profits. The early 2000s hedges may in retrospect be an anomalous, lucky event and also a claim to fame for Southwest Airlines' reputation as a financially adept company.

Southwest.com On March 16, 1995, Southwest became one of the first airlines to have a web site. Originally called the "Southwest Airlines Home Gate", customers could view schedules, a route map, and company information at http://www.iflyswa.com. The company later obtained the rights to its current home on the web, southwest.com, from an unaffiliated business. Southwest consistently rejects syndicating its fares to fare search sites such as expedia.com or orbitz.com.

Southwest.com is the number one airline web site for online revenue, according to PhoCusWright. Nielsen Ratings/Netratings also reports that Southwest.com is the largest airline site in terms of unique visitors. In 2006, 70 percent of flight bookings and 73 percent of revenue was generated from bookings on southwest.com. As of December 2006, 55 percent of Southwest passengers checked in for their flights online.

The Wright Amendment in San Diego, California. Complete elimination of the Wright Amendment would allow non-stop service from Dallas Love Field to airports as far west as California

After the opening of Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport, which was the original name of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 1974, Southwest was the only airline to remain at Love Field.

When airline deregulation came in 1978, Southwest began planning to offer interstate service from Love Field. This caused a number of interest groups affiliated with Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, including the city of Fort Worth, Texas, to push the Wright Amendment through Congress to restrict such flights. Under the restrictions of the amendment, Southwest, and all other airlines, were barred from operating, or even ticketing passengers on flights from Love Field to destinations beyond the states immediately surrounding Texas. In effect, to travel through Love Field, a passenger and luggage would have to deplane and fly on a separate ticket, on a separate aircraft.

The Wright Amendment's restrictions didn't apply to aircraft configured with 56 or fewer seats. In 2000, Legend Airlines attempted to operate long distance business-class flights using older DC-9s with 56 seats, but did not have the resources to survive American Airlines legal and marketing attacks, and quickly ceased operations. Southwest has not used the 56 seat loophole, even with its market strength at Love Field and the availability of more modern regional jets such as the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet#CRJ-700 and the Embraer ERJ 145 family.

Southwest's efforts to repeal or even alter the Wright Amendment had been met with opposition from American Airlines and Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport. Both American Airlines and DFW contended that repeal of the Wright Amendment restrictions would cripple DFW, while Southwest contended that repeal of the Wright Amendment would be beneficial to both Love Field and DFW. Continental Airlines has a successful hub and spoke operation at George Bush Intercontinental Airport despite unrestricted competition from Southwest at William P. Hobby Airport.

In 1997, Southwest's effort began to pay off with the Richard Shelby, which added the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas to the list of permissible destination states. Southwest now offers service between Dallas Love Field and Jackson, MS, via a connection at Houston, which it couldn't do prior to the enactment of the Shelby Amendment.

Since late 2004, Southwest has actively sought the full repeal of the Wright Amendment restrictions. In late 2005, Missouri was added to the list of permissible destination states via a transportation appropriations bill. New service from Love Field to St. Louis and Kansas City quickly started in December 2005.

At a June 15, 2006 joint press conference held by the City of Dallas, the City of Ft. Worth, Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, the said parties announced a tentative agreement on how the Wright Amendment was to be phased out. Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed Wright-related legislation on September 29, 2006, and it was signed into law by the president on October 13, 2006. The new law became effective on October 16, 2006, when the FAA Administrator notified Congress that any new aviation operations occurring as a result of the new law could be accommodated without adverse effect to the airspace.

undergoes maintenance at Portland International AirportSouthwest started selling tickets under the new law on October 19, 2006. Highlights of the agreement are the immediate elimination of through-ticketing prohibitions, and unrestricted flights to domestic destinations eight years after the legislation takes effect. This agreement was a resounding victory for Southwest Airlines because nationwide service became possible, and the law defined the maximum number of gates at Love Field. Southwest controls all of the Love Field gates except for the two each that American and Continental control. The future of the Legend Airlines terminal for use by commercial airlines is in doubt because of the limit on number of gates.

Southwest remains the dominant passenger airline at Love Field, maintains its headquarters, hangars, and flight simulators adjacent thereto, and reflects its ties to Love Field in its ticker symbol (LUV).

Despite the restrictions on its home base, Southwest proceeded to build a successful business on an unusual model: flying multiple short, quick trips into the secondary (more efficient and less costly) airports of major cities, using primarily only one aircraft type, the Boeing 737.

Destinations Southwest Airlines currently flies to 64 destinations throughout the United States of America. The airline added its 64th destination on August 26, 2007 when it resumed service from San Francisco, California.

Current service , with a Boeing 737 parked at a gateSouthwest does not use the more traditional "Spoke-hub distribution paradigm" flight routing system of most major airlines, preferring instead the "Point-to-point transit" system. Currently, Southwest serves 64 cities in 32 states, with more than 3,200 flights a day. It has notably large operations in certain airports. Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport has non-stop service to almost all of Southwest's locations. Other airports with large Southwest operations include Chicago Midway International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Orlando International Airport, Tampa International Airport and Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, with all of these airports operating non-stop flights to more than half of the Southwest system. An average of 80 percent of Southwest passengers are local passengers, meaning only 20 percent of all passengers are connecting passengers. This is significantly higher than most airlines, where passengers often connect in hub cities.

As part of its effort to control costs, Southwest tries to use secondary airports which generally have lower costs and may, or may not be, more convenient to travelers than the major airports to the same destinations. For example, Southwest flies to Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in South Florida, Dallas Love Field in Dallas, William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire, and T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, instead of O'Hare International Airport, Miami International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and Logan International Airport in Boston, respectively. Southwest also serves the New York Metropolitan area at Long Island MacArthur Airport.

in Burbank, CaliforniaSouthwest makes exceptions to the philosophy of serving secondary airports by flying into some larger airports in major cities, such as Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport. In the Los Angeles market Southwest flies to both the major city airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and to three of the four secondary airports, Bob Hope Airport, John Wayne Airport, and LA/Ontario International Airport (it does not serve Long Beach Airport). With the restoration of service out of San Francisco International Airport on August 26, 2007, Southwest now serves all three airports in the San Francisco Bay Area; the other two being Oakland International Airport and San Jose International Airport.

Southwest withdrew from San Francisco International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in favor of using smaller airports with fewer operations nearby. In February 2007, Southwest announced its intent to return to San Francisco International Airport as its next city opening, and began service to SFO on August 26, 2007. The airline also once served Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado but withdrew in 1986 because of excessive ATC delays during poor weather exacerbated by minimal separation between the runways. Southwest returned to Denver in 2006 with service to the new Denver International Airport. Besides Houston (Intercontinental) and Denver (Stapleton International), the airline has withdrawn completely from airports in Beaumont, Texas and Detroit, Michigan (Detroit City Airport).

On October 5, 2006, Southwest Airlines started operations at Washington Dulles International Airport with 12 daily flights from two gates in Concourse B.

Southwest is the largest intra-state airline in California, with 674 flights total in the state, 355 of which are intra-California.

Markets lacking Southwest service Due to intense competition from near-monopoly airlines such as Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines and others, some markets are not cost-effective for Southwest. New York City-area flights are serviced from Long Island MacArthur Airport or through Southwest's codeshare with ATA Airlines to LaGuardia Airport instead of directly through the three main New York-area airports (LaGuardia Airport, JFK International Airport, or Newark Liberty International). Other large cities without Southwest service include Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, Memphis International Airport, General Mitchell International Airport, and Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.

With the exception of Florida, the southeastern part of the U.S. route map geographically has a large string of voids. There are only four cities in the whole region - Birmingham, Alabama, Nashville, Tennessee, Raleigh, North Carolina and Jackson, Mississippi. Another void also persists in the mid northern part of the US stretching from Wisconsin to Montana/Wyoming and also Alaska.

For Seattle in 2005, Southwest proposed service to Boeing Field, which is a smaller airport closer to downtown than Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. However, King County leaders refused to allow a terminal to be built or service to begin.{{cite news | title = Southwest Airlines addresses rejected offer at Boeing Field in King County | author = Airline Industry Information | date = [2005-10-12 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CWU/is_2005_Oct_12/ai_n15691518 | accessdate =2007-06-10-->

At this time, Southwest does not serve any destinations outside the United States. While other low cost carriers such as AirTran Airways, Frontier Airlines, and JetBlue Airways have started to fly to international destinations, Southwest Airlines has not ruled out the possibility of an international market in the future, as they are within range of their 737-700 aircraft. CEO Gary Kelly stated in June of 2007 that because of shrinking profits, the airline will likely slow its rate of expansion.{{cite news | title = Southwest Airlines Mulls Slowing Expansion | date = [2007-06-10 | url = http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1181087199.html | accessdate =2007-06-10-->

Top ten airports The following airports, as of July 20, 2007, are the top ten most served by Southwest Airlines:{| class="toccolours sortable" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"|+ Southwest Airlines top ten airports|- bgcolor=lightblue!City!Daily departures!Number of gates!Nonstop cities served!Service established|-|McCarran International Airport|232|21|53|1982|-|Chicago Midway International Airport|227|29|47|1985|-|Sky Harbor International Airport|205|24|42|1982|-|Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport|180|26|40|1993|-|Oakland International Airport|148|11|21|1989|-|William P. Hobby Airport|146|16|29|1971|-|Dallas Love Field Airport|133|14|15|1971|-|Los Angeles International Airport|120|11|19|1982|-|Orlando International Airport|116|12|33|1996|-|San Diego International Airport|96|10|16|1982|}

New service On June 27, 2007, Southwest Airlines announced substantial additions to their route schedule, adding new nonstop flights (mainly out of Denver) which are slated to begin November 4, 2007.

On February 9, 2007, Southwest Airlines announced internally that it was planning to restart operations at San Francisco International Airport, a station the airline closed in 2001.{{cite news | coauthors = Witter, Lameen | title = Southwest Airlines Announces San Francisco Treat | date = [2007-05-11 | url = http://www.yachtchartersmagazine.com/read/374715.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-10 --> Southwest CEO Gary C. Kelly has stated that the airline plans to commence service at SFO beginning in the "early fall" of 2007. On May 11, 2007, in an e-mail to Rapid Rewards members, Southwest announced that service to and from San Francisco would begin August 26th with eight daily nonstops to San Diego International Airport, seven to McCarran International Airport and three to Chicago's Chicago Midway International Airport.

Southwest also announced that they will be participating in Disney's Magical Express program in Orlando, FL. The program allows passengers to check their bags through from their home airport through to their rooms at a Walt Disney World resort.

Effective November 4, 2007

Effective February 4, 2008

Discontinued service Effective November 4, 2007

International service Southwest Airlines has set a goal to begin international services or ticket international flights in 2009. Services are likely to be operated by ATA. Destinations may include Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico. In 2010, plans to partner with other carriers for transatlantic and transpacific flights. European service may be operated by Southwest. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/19/business/NA-FIN-COM-US-Southwest-International-Flights.php/ Evolution at Southwest, Aviation Week and Space Technology, September 3, 2007, p. 46 (interview with Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President Strategy Procurement and Technology)

The Southwest Effect . Southwest and US Airways are the dominant carriers at McCarran International AirportThe success and profitability of Southwest's business model led to a common trend being named after the company: The The Southwest effect. Since Southwest's original mission in Texas was to make it less expensive than driving between two points (in the early 1970s, during the first major energy cost crisis in the U.S.), it developed a template for entering markets at rates that allowed the airline to be profitable, yet only on the basis of lean operations and high aircraft use. The key concept to the Southwest Effect is that when a low-fare carrier (or any aggressive and innovative company) enters a market, the market itself changes, and usually grows dramatically. For example, when fares drop by 50% from their historical averages, the number of new customers in that market may not just double, but actually quadruple, or more.

Southwest has been a major inspiration to other low-cost airlines, and its business model has been repeated many times around the world. Europe's easyJet and Ryanair as well as Canada's WestJet, are some of the best known airlines to follow Southwest's business strategy in that continent (though easyJet operates two different aircraft models today). Other airlines with a business model based on Southwest's system include New Zealand's Freedom Air , and Malaysia AirAsia (the first and biggest LCC in Asia) and Thailand's Nok Air.

Morris Air One airline influenced by Southwest was Morris Air, founded by June Morris and David Neeleman, based in Utah and operating in the northwestern U.S. Southwest Airlines purchased Morris Air and absorbed the capital and routes into its inventory and service. David Neeleman worked with Southwest for a short period. When his non-compete agreement expired, Neeleman founded JetBlue Airways, a competing airline that also incorporates many principles and practices pioneered by Southwest, including building a positive, warm employee culture and operating a simple fleet.{{cite book | last = Peterson | first = Barbara | title = Blue Streak: Inside jetBlue, the Upstart that Rocked an Industry | publisher = Portfolio Hardcover | date = 2004 | id = ISBN 1-59184-058-9 -->

TranStar Airlines Southwest Airlines has mostly pursued a strategy of internal growth, rather than by acquisition of other airlines as commonly occurs. However, in addition to acquisition of Morris Air Transport (see above), Southwest did acquire competitor Muse Air in 1985, which operated McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. Muse Air was renamed TranStar Airlines.

Icelandair In 1997, Southwest and Icelandair entered into interline and marketing agreements allowing for joint fares, coordinated schedules, and transfer of passenger luggage between the two airlines at Baltimore. Icelandair operated flights between Baltimore and Keflavik Airport in Iceland. Connecting service between several U.S. cities and several European cities appeared in the Southwest timetable {{cite news | author = Rob Kaiser | title = Southwest may add cities to Iceland deal | publisher = Baltimore Business Journal | date = [1997-02-21 | url = http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1997/02/24/story6.html?page=1 | accessdate = 2007-06-10--> The frequent flyer programs were not included in the agreement. This arrangement lasted for several years but is no longer in existence.

ATA Airlines ATA Airlines, one of Southwest Airlines main competitors in the Chicago market, historically operated out of Chicago Midway International Airport alongside Southwest. ATA declared bankruptcy, and in 2004, Southwest injected capital into ATA that (among other things) would have resulted in Southwest's 27.5% ownership stake in ATA upon their exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

In a departure from its traditional "go it alone" strategy, Southwest entered into its first domestic codesharing arrangement with ATA, which enabled Southwest Airlines to serve ATA markets in Hawaii, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and LaGuardia Airport.

In late 2005, ATA secured $100 million in additional financing from the firm of Matlin Patterson, and Southwest's original deal with ATA was modified such that Southwest no longer retained the 27.5% stake (or any other financial interest) in ATA. The codeshare arrangement, however, continues to remain in place and has expanded, with some internal controversy, to include all of ATA's 17 destinations and all of Southwest's 63 destinations. In 2006, Southwest's pilot union approved a codeshare sideletter to their contract with limitations on the growth of this and other codeshare agreements. While these restrictions today are minor, outsourcing remains a growing concern in the unions current contract negotiations.

During 2006, Southwest Airlines began marketing ATA only flights. ATA's dependence on the Southwest network continued to grow in 2006, and today ATA offers over 70 flights a week to Hawaii from Southwest's hubs in PHX, LAS, LAX, ONT, and OAK. Additional connecting service is available to many other cities across the United States. Plans have been announced for ATA to offer exclusive international service for Southwest by 2010. Southwest today has taken over all ground operations for ATA at MDW, OAK, PHX, LAX, and LAS. These contracts provide that Southwest ramp personnel will now handle all ground operations (loading of aircraft, ground servicing, etc.) for ATA. The details of these contracts have not been made public but represent Southwest's and ATA's growing mutually beneficial codeshare relationship. Presently, there is no plan to open the ATA/Southwest codeshare to ATA's sister carriers; North American Airlines or World Airways, even though they are co-owned by the same corporate entity created from ATA Holdings.

Beginning in February 2005, ATA was run by John G. Denison, Southwest's former Chief Financial Officer. Effective January 1, 2007, Denison turned things over to Subodh Karnik, who is now President and Chief Executive Officer. Denison remains ATA's Chairman and Chairman of Global Aero Logistics Inc., the new name of ATA Holdings.

Corporate culture Intertwined with Southwest's innovative business model has been a consistent emphasis on the value of people, both customers and employees. From the beginning of its operations, Southwest urged employees to have fun doing their work, and to make the experience of flying Southwest not only convenient but enjoyable.

Southwest experience The experience of flying on Southwest is quite different from that of most other U.S. airlines from beginning to end.

Tickets cannot be purchased through common online venues like Orbitz or Travelocity, although a minority are booked through travel agents. However, most of Southwest tickets are issued directly by the airline over the phone or online at the company's website which features Web-only fare discounts.

Unlike other major airlines, Southwest allows passengers to change reservations without penalty (save the potentially additional cost of the new ticket). While this provides flexibility to customers, Southwest does not allow same-day standby travel on a different flight (usually a free service at other airlines) without upgrading to maximum fare.

Customers are not assigned seats; rather, they are assigned to one of three "boarding groups" depending on their check-in time (earlier check-ins get to board earlier), and are left to choose their own seats on the plane, which helps the airline to board passengers faster. At the May 2006 shareholders meeting, Southwest management announced a study of potentially adopting an assigned-seating system in 2008, as part of a reservations-technology overhaul now under way. In Q4 of 2007, Southwest will announce a new boarding/seating method.{{cite news | author = Dan Reed | title = Southwest plans new seating policy, schedule changes | publisher = USA Today | date = [2006-06-27 | url = http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-06-27-southwest-plans_N.htm | accessdate = 2007-09-17--> No details of the new boarding process have been released but Southwest has been testing a new process at the San Antonio airport which assigns passengers a numeric position in the boarding queue. {{cite web | last = Susie | first = Boersma | title = Enhanced Boarding | publisher = Southwest Airlines Blog | date = [2007-08-23 | url = http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/08/23/enhanced-boarding | accessdate = 2007-09-17-->

As a result of the boarding policy, several independent companies have offered automatic check-in services for Southwest. These companies take customer's orders for check-in ahead of the 24 hour mark (when the airline makes a flight available for online check-in) and transmit the necessary data for check-in to Southwest as soon as the airline opens up online check-in for a particular flight. The result of this service is that people using it generally get the first boarding group (known as the "A" boarding group). These early check-in sites include iboarda.com and CheckinSooner.com. Southwest has not embraced this practice and has sued boardfirst.com in federal court with trial set for fall 2007.

Southwest still allows three pieces of luggage to be checked in free as opposed to the limit of two on the domestic flights of some other U.S. airlines.

In the past, meal service was less than on full service airlines (now often called "legacy airlines"), with shorter flights receiving just a single small snack and soft drink, and longer flights (with a duration of about 3 hours or more) meriting a "Snack Pack" of prepackaged goods. In recent years these meals in a bag typically exceed the food served on full-service airlines like United Airlines or American Airlines. Southwest also offers free in-flight beverages (excluding alcohol). Although there is no video entertainment, Southwest is known for colorful boarding announcements and crews that burst out in song. The singing is unusual, and is quite popular among customers, but has been noted by some travel critics as being offensive and intrusive.{{cite news | author = David Grossman | title = I don't hate Southwest anymore | publisher = USA Today | date = [2005-10-17 | url = http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/grossman/2005-10-14-grossman_x.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-10-->

For all the leanness in comforts, which helped it pass through the post-9/11 travel slump as one of the few profitable major American airlines, Southwest manages to maintain excellent customer satisfaction ratings. In 2006, according to the United States Department of Transportation December year end operating statistics, Southwest ranked number one (lowest number of complaints) of all U.S. airlines for customer complaints, with 0.18 per 100,000 customers enplaned. Southwest Airlines has consistently received the fewest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded of all major U.S. carriers that have been reporting statistics to the Department of Transportation (DOT) since September 1987, which is when the DOT began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics and publishing its Air Travel Consumer Report.

Rapid Rewards Southwest's frequent flier program is called Rapid Rewards. Currently, customers receive one credit for each one-way trip (even though the flight may have stopovers). A free ticket, expiring after 11 months, is automatically issued when a member accumulates 16 credits in a 24-month period. Double Rapid Rewards credits used to be awarded for online booking, but this policy was modified at the end of 2003. At that time the bonus was reduced to .5 credit for each segment booked online, (i.e., each round-trip ticket booked online received a total of 3 Rapid Rewards credits). This was discontinued in April 2005. In addition, one-half credit is also earned for using a Southwest partner to book any car rental and/or hotel stay, regardless of whether a Southwest flight is involved. This arrangement has won numerous Freddy Awards over the years.

In February 2006, Southwest instituted capacity controls to redeeming its free tickets. This means that the airline limits the seats offered to frequent travelers using free certificates on each flight, whereas previously if there was a seat available, one could use the award, provided the passenger was not flying on one of the five blackout dates.

In early 2006, Southwest expanded its codeshare agreement with ATA Airlines and now allows redemption of award tickets on Hawaii flights at the rate of two awards per round trip flight. Southwest and ATA stress that reward availability to Hawaii will be very limited. Travelers can also earn twice the normal number of credits when they purchase airfare on Hawaii-bound flights.

Playful, effective advertising The company, from inception, employed humor in its advertising. Examples include "Just Plane Smart," "The Somebody Else Up There Who Loves You" and "THE Low Fare Airline". The airline's current slogan is "A Symbol of Freedom". A select history of print and video ads are available on the company website.

Since the 1990s, Southwest has been running a television ad campaign based on the phrase "Wanna get away?" The commercials present comical, embarrassing situations in which people find themselves wanting to "get away". Most ads are accompanied by the sound clip " You are now free to move about the country"; self-parody of the in-flight announcement that "you are now free to move about the cabin".

The public address system "ding" has become synonymous with Southwest Airlines, and inspired the name of an online ticket offer program, Ding!.

The Southwest Airlines television commercial, “Flight Attendant,” was named in Adweek’s ‘Best Spots’ in August 2006.



"Just Plane Smart" Shortly after Southwest started using the "Just Plane Smart" motto, Stevens Aviation, who had been using "Plane Smart" for their motto, threatened a trademark lawsuit.

Instead of a lawsuit, the CEOs for both companies staged an arm wrestling match. Held at the now demolished Dallas Sportatorium (the famed wrestling facility) and set for two out of three rounds, the loser of each round was to pay $5,000 to the charity of their choice, with the winner gaining the use of the trademarked phrase. A promotional video was created showing the CEOs "training" for the bout (with CEO Herb Kelleher being helped up during a sit up where a cigarette and glass of whiskey (Wild Turkey 101) was waiting) and distributed among the employees and as a video press release along with the video of the match itself. Herb Kelleher lost the match for Southwest, with Stevens Aviation winning the rights to the phrase. Kurt Herwald, CEO of Stevens Aviation, immediately granted the use of "Just Plane Smart" to Southwest Airlines. The net result was both companies having use of the trademark, $15,000 going to charity and a healthy dose of goodwill publicity for both companies.

Colorful personalities Southwest employees are generally well-known for friendliness, (for example, one Aviator is known to greet passengers while playing the banjo); this is often attributed to a unique "love-based" corporate atmosphere that made chairman and founder Herb Kelleher a celebrity in the business world. The President of Southwest is corporate secretary Colleen Barrett, who has been with the company since day one. Southwest's Chief financial officer is Laura Wright (Southwest CFO). In July 2007, it was announced that Herb Kelleher will resign his position as Chairman effective May 2008. Colleen Barrett will leave her post on the Board of Directors and Corporate Secretary in May 2008 and President in July 2008. Both will remain active employees of Southwest Airlines.

Southwest has 1,133 married couples. In other words, 2,266 Southwest Employees have spouses who also work for the company.

Concerns attributed to labor unrest and complaints by the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) representing Southwest flight attendants were reportedly a factor in the recent resignation of Kelleher's hand-picked replacement as CEO. Jim Parker resigned in July 2004 and was replaced by Chief Financial Officer Gary Kelly.{{cite news | author = Trebor Banstetter | title = Southwest Airlines CEO quits | publisher = Knight Ridder Newspapers | date = [2004-07-16 | url = http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001980855_southwestair16.html | accessdate = 2007-06-10 -->

Organized labor Although Southwest is considered a "low fare" airline, it is heavily unionized compared with other airlines. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20040716/ai_n11465633 The Southwest Airline Pilots' Association, a union not affiliated with the Air Line Pilots Association, International, represents the airline's pilots. http://www.swapa.org/ The Aircraft Maintenance Technicians' are represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).http://www.amfanatl.org/

Airline The American version of the reality show Airline (US TV series) showcased Southwest Airlines passengers and employees in daily mishaps and life at some of Southwest's major airports (BWI, MDW, LAX, & HOU). The show premiered January 5, 2004 on the A&E Network, but was canceled after 70 episodes on December 15, 2005.

Fleet with the airline's new leather seating

Current fleet The Southwest Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of September 2007:{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"

|- bgcolor=#FFcc99!Aircraft!Total!Passengers
(Economy)!Routes!Notes|-|Boeing 737#737-300|align=center|194|137|Short-medium haul|Launch customer|-|Boeing 737#737-500|align=center|25|122|Short haul|Launch customer|-|Boeing 737#737-700|align=center|293
(132 orders)|137|All routes|Launch customer
All but 2 are fitted with Wingtip device#Winglet.|}

The airline operates more Boeing 737s in its fleet than any other airline in the world; Southwest is often cited as an example of an airline streamlining operations by having only one type of aircraft. However, Southwest operated leased Boeing 727-200 aircraft during the late-1970s and again in the mid-1980s and subsidiary TranStar Airlines operated DC-9s and MD-80s during the mid-1980s. Southwest has been a launch customer for all three of the Boeing 737 variants it currently operates, and was the first airline to put both the Model 500 and next-generation Model 700 into service. Southwest has a mix of old and new aircraft with both its "classic" and "next generation" 737 aircraft. {{citenews] | title = The Boeing Next-Generation 737 Family | url = http://www.boeing.com/commercial/737family/background.html | accessdate = 2006-06-10 -->

As of September 2007, Southwest has an average fleet age of 9.8 years, and fly an average of about 7 flights per day. The average aircraft trip length is 627 miles with an average duration of one hour and 49 minutes. This means the daily utilization of each plane is, on average, 12 hours and 30 minutes.

Southwest's seats are the same width as any other operator of 737s in the United States. However seats are approximately one inch narrower than Airbus Airbus A320#A320 series operated by low cost carriers such as Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, US Airways, Skybus Airlines and several other competitors. Southwest's seat pitch averages between 32 and 33 inches, which compares to average of 31 to 32 inches for U.S. domestic airlines. However, rival low-fare carrier JetBlue Airways offers from 32 inches to 36 inches.http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/JetBlue_Airways/information.php

Southwest's 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft are not equipped with glass cockpit technology, as the 737-300s, 737-400s, and 737-500s of some other airlines are. Instead, the flight decks are fitted with analog gauges, more similar to those of the earlier 737-100 and 737-200 variants. Note the analog attitude deviation indicator (ADI) and horizontal situation indicator (HSI) (the blue-colored instrument and one below it) in this Southwest 737-3H4 and note the electronic versions of the same instruments (EADI and EHSI) in this United Airlines 737-322. There are electronic displays throughout the cockpit of the 737-700 and other "Next Generation" 737 variants, and Southwest has programmed their 737-7H4 models to emulate the appearance of the 737-300 and 737-500 for standardization purposes.

Since production of the 737-300 and 737-500 has ended, recent Southwest orders have been exclusively for the 737-700 model.

Southwest is the world's largest operator of the 737. Their current active fleet is over 500 aircraft. In terms of total 737 production (all models in history), deliveries of new aircraft from Boeing to Southwest accounts for approximately 9% of total production. Southwest has one of the largest fleets in North America.

Retired fleet {| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"|+ Southwest Airlines Retired Fleet|- bgcolor=#FFcc99!Aircraft!Year Retired!Replacement!Notes|-|Boeing 737#737-200|2005|Boeing 737#737-700|Southwest's first aircraft type|-|}

Livery {{Infobox_Airline|airline=Southwest Airlines|logo=Southwest Airlines Logo.svg|logo_size=300px|fleet_size=512|destinations=64|IATA=WN|ICAO=SWA|callsign=SOUTHWEST|parent=|company_slogan =A Symbol of Freedom|founded=1971, [Texas ([Chief executive officer)
Herb Kelleher (Chairman)
Laura Wright (Southwest CFO) (Chief Financial Officer)
Colleen Barrett (President)]
Chicago Midway International Airport
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Oakland International Airport
William P. Hobby Airport
Dallas Love Field
Los Angeles International Airport
Orlando International Airport
San Diego International Airport|lounge=|alliance=|website= http://www.southwest.com-->Southwest Airlines Co. () is an [United States Low-cost carrier based in Dallas, Texas, with its largest focus city at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. It is the largest airline in the United States by number of passengers carried domestically per year and the World's largest airlines#By scheduled passengers carried by number of passengers carried. It is also the 6th largest U.S. airline by revenue. It also maintains the World's largest airlines#By fleet size in 2007 among all of the world's commercial airlines.

Southwest Airlines has carried more customers than any other U.S. airline since August 2006 for combined domestic and international passengers according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.Southwest has maintained this rating every month that statistics have been released. Southwest Airlines Industry Standings Southwest Airlines is one of the world's most profitable airlines and in January 2007, posted a profit for the 34th consecutive year. Its reputation for low prices and a #Corporate culture atmosphere have made it an icon of popular culture.

History Southwest Airlines was originally incorporated to serve three cities in Texas as Air Southwest on March 15, 1967, by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. According to frequently-cited legend, King described the concept to Kelleher over dinner by drawing on a paper napkin a triangle symbolizing the routes.(Dallas, Houston, San Antonio){{cite news | author = Gayle Sato Stodder | title = Making people count: Southwest Airlines - Company Profile | date = | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_n9_v25/ai_19892335 | accessdate = 2007-06-10 -->

Some of the incumbent airlines of the time (Braniff, Trans-Texas Airways, and Continental Airlines) initiated legal action, and thus began a three-year legal battle to keep Air Southwest on the ground. Air Southwest eventually prevailed in the Texas Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld Air Southwest's right to fly in Texas.Reversed and injunction denied, Texas Aeronautical Commission et al. v. Braniff Airways et al., 454 S.W. 2d 199 (Supreme Court of Texas, May 13, 1970) The decision became final on December 7, 1970, when the Supreme Court of the United States declined to review the case without comment.Certiorari denied, 400 U.S. 943 (1970) That date is considered by many to be the de facto beginning of deregulation in the airline industry.

The story of Southwest's legal fight was turned into a children's book, Gumwrappers and Goggles by Winifred Barnum in 1983. In the story, TJ Love, a small jet, is taken to court by two larger jets to keep him from their hangar, and then to try and stop him from flying at all. Taken to court, TJ Love's right to fly is upheld after an impassioned plea from The Lawyer. While no company names are mentioned in the book, TJ Love's colors are those of Southwest Airlines, and the two other jets are colored in Braniff and Continental's colors. The Lawyer is designed to resemble Herb Kelleher. The book was adapted into a stage musical, Show your Spirit, sponsored by Southwest Airlines, and played only in towns serviced by the airline.

Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher studied Pacific Southwest Airlines extensively and used many of the airline's ideas to form the corporate culture at Southwest, and even on early flights used the same "Long Legs And Short Nights" theme for stewardesses on board typical Southwest Airlines flights.

The airline adopted the first profit-sharing plan in the U.S. airline industry in 1973. Through this plan and others, employees own about 10 percent of the company stock.

The airline is about 87 percent unionized. The pilots are represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association, a union separate from the much larger ALPA union.

First flights In early 1971, Air Southwest changed its name to Southwest Airlines, and the first flight was on June 18, 1971. Its first flights were from Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas to Houston, Texas and San Antonio, Texas, short hops with no-frills service and a simple fare structure, features that became the basis for Southwest's popularity and rapid growth in the coming years.

The start of service in June 1971 was accomplished with three Boeing 737 aircraft; a fourth was added in September of the same year.

Over time, Southwest has added improved 737 variants but has stayed within the Boeing 737 family to hold down operating costs. Because this technique simplified training, maintenance, and ground operations, it revolutionized the industry's approach to building aircraft fleets.

In January 2005, Southwest retired its last 737-200, the oldest type in its fleet. To celebrate "putting the -200s to bed", selected employees donned Southwest pajamas for an early morning flight to celebrate the final landing at Dallas Love.

Early losses and financial troubles The rest of 1971 and 1972 saw operating losses. One of the four aircraft was sold to Frontier Airlines (1950-1986) and the proceeds used to make payroll and cover other expenses. Southwest continued to operate a schedule predicated on four aircraft but using only three, and in so doing the "ten minute turn" was born, and was the standard ground time for many years.

Southwest turned its first annual profit in 1973, and has done so every year since — a record unmatched by any other commercial airline. Southwest has used financial techniques such as fuel hedging to bolster its profitability and counteract many of the fiscal disadvantages of operating an airline.

By 1979 Southwest served all of the cities currently served in Texas, plus Beaumont and interstate service began to New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Tulsa was added shortly thereafter. In 1981 Southwest co-launched the Boeing 737#737-300 with USAir. In 1982 the first expansion beyond the Texas area took Southwest to the West Coast, adding Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego. In 1984 the 737-300 was placed into service. Chicago Midway and St. Louis service began in March, 1985, spreading low-fare service into Midwest markets.

Southwest hired its first African-American pilot, Louis Freeman, in 1980. In 1992, he was named the first African-American chief pilot of any major U.S. airline.{{cite news | title = BWI Airport and Southwest Airlines Salute African American Aviation Pioneers - 1st African American Chief Pilot, 1st African American President of female flying organization highlight Feb. 24 program | publisher = Baltimore/Washington International Airport | date = [2005-02-05 | url = http://www.bwiairport.com/press_room/press_releases/106/ | accessdate = 2006-06-09 -->



Hedging fuel Southwest has a longtime program to Hedge (finance) Jet fuel prices. It has purchased fuel Option (finance) years in advance to smooth out fluctuations in fuel costs.

In 2000, Southwest said it had "adjusted its hedging strategy" to "utilize financial derivative instruments... when it appears the Company can take advantage of market conditions." Additionally, the company hoped to "take advantage of historically low jet fuel prices." SEC statement Southwest's decision proved to be a prescient and, for a time, extremely profitable effort.

To lock in the low historical prices Southwest believed were occurring at that time, Southwest used a mixture of swaps and call options to secure fuel in future years while paying prices they believed were low. The company also stated that with this new strategy, it faced substantial risks if the oil prices continued to go down, but they did not. Previously, Southwest had been more interested in reducing volatility of oil prices. Now, they hoped to reap large gains from oil price appreciation.

In 2001, Southwest again substantially increased its hedging in response to projections of increased crude oil prices. The use of these hedges helped Southwest maintain its profitability during the oil shocks related to the Iraq War and later Hurricane Katrina.

According an annual report, here is the company's fuel hedge for forward years ("approximate" per barrel basis, as of mid-January): 2007 is 95% hedged at $50/barrel; 2008 is 65% hedged at $49/barrel; 2009 is over 50% hedged at $51/barrel; 2010 is over 25% hedged at $63/barrel; 2011 is over is 15% hedged at $64/barrel; 2012 is 15% hedged at $63/barrel.

According to its 2006 Annual Report, Southwest paid low prices for fuel thanks to the benefit of fuel hedges:

These are well below market rates, which Southwest factors into its low operating costs. However, this below-market oil cost will not continue forever; executives have said that Southwest faces increased exposure to the raw oil market every year. This is not a good sign for the airline, which is also facing tough competition from US legacy carriers that have lowered costs through bankruptcy. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly has decided to slow the airlines' growth as a response to this cost.

Risk managers find it difficult to endorse the style of profit-motivated energy trading Southwest did between 1999 and the early 2000s. Risk managers have suggested{{cite news | author = Carlos Blanco | coauthors = J. Lehman and N. Shimoda | title = Airlines Hedging Strategies: The Shareholder Value Perspective | date = | url = http://www.commodities-now.com/content/market-areas/general/ma-article-8.pdf | accessdate = 2007-06-10--> that rather than hedging business risk, (such as a hedge on weather to a farmer), Southwest was simply speculating on energy prices, without a formal rationale for doing so. As an airline company, the goal of "taking advantage" of the commodity market's flaws was quite unusual. Hedge or no hedge, the long-term speculative outcome does not lessen the [marginal cost of monthly flight operations. If flights lost money at market prices, they still would be canceled to maximize shareholder value -- since, crucially, the fuel hedges could be sold for cash on the open market.

At present, Southwest has enjoyed much positive press (and a strong financial boost) from its energy trading skills. However, while most analysts agree that volatility hedges can be beneficial, speculative hedges are not widely supported as a continuing strategy for profits. The early 2000s hedges may in retrospect be an anomalous, lucky event and also a claim to fame for Southwest Airlines' reputation as a financially adept company.

Southwest.com On March 16, 1995, Southwest became one of the first airlines to have a web site. Originally called the "Southwest Airlines Home Gate", customers could view schedules, a route map, and company information at http://www.iflyswa.com. The company later obtained the rights to its current home on the web, southwest.com, from an unaffiliated business. Southwest consistently rejects syndicating its fares to fare search sites such as expedia.com or orbitz.com.

Southwest.com is the number one airline web site for online revenue, according to PhoCusWright. Nielsen Ratings/Netratings also reports that Southwest.com is the largest airline site in terms of unique visitors. In 2006, 70 percent of flight bookings and 73 percent of revenue was generated from bookings on southwest.com. As of December 2006, 55 percent of Southwest passengers checked in for their flights online.

The Wright Amendment in San Diego, California. Complete elimination of the Wright Amendment would allow non-stop service from Dallas Love Field to airports as far west as California

After the opening of Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport, which was the original name of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 1974, Southwest was the only airline to remain at Love Field.

When airline deregulation came in 1978, Southwest began planning to offer interstate service from Love Field. This caused a number of interest groups affiliated with Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, including the city of Fort Worth, Texas, to push the Wright Amendment through Congress to restrict such flights. Under the restrictions of the amendment, Southwest, and all other airlines, were barred from operating, or even ticketing passengers on flights from Love Field to destinations beyond the states immediately surrounding Texas. In effect, to travel through Love Field, a passenger and luggage would have to deplane and fly on a separate ticket, on a separate aircraft.

The Wright Amendment's restrictions didn't apply to aircraft configured with 56 or fewer seats. In 2000, Legend Airlines attempted to operate long distance business-class flights using older DC-9s with 56 seats, but did not have the resources to survive American Airlines legal and marketing attacks, and quickly ceased operations. Southwest has not used the 56 seat loophole, even with its market strength at Love Field and the availability of more modern regional jets such as the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet#CRJ-700 and the Embraer ERJ 145 family.

Southwest's efforts to repeal or even alter the Wright Amendment had been met with opposition from American Airlines and Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport. Both American Airlines and DFW contended that repeal of the Wright Amendment restrictions would cripple DFW, while Southwest contended that repeal of the Wright Amendment would be beneficial to both Love Field and DFW. Continental Airlines has a successful hub and spoke operation at George Bush Intercontinental Airport despite unrestricted competition from Southwest at William P. Hobby Airport.

In 1997, Southwest's effort began to pay off with the Richard Shelby, which added the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas to the list of permissible destination states. Southwest now offers service between Dallas Love Field and Jackson, MS, via a connection at Houston, which it couldn't do prior to the enactment of the Shelby Amendment.

Since late 2004, Southwest has actively sought the full repeal of the Wright Amendment restrictions. In late 2005, Missouri was added to the list of permissible destination states via a transportation appropriations bill. New service from Love Field to St. Louis and Kansas City quickly started in December 2005.

At a June 15, 2006 joint press conference held by the City of Dallas, the City of Ft. Worth, Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, the said parties announced a tentative agreement on how the Wright Amendment was to be phased out. Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed Wright-related legislation on September 29, 2006, and it was signed into law by the president on October 13, 2006. The new law became effective on October 16, 2006, when the FAA Administrator notified Congress that any new aviation operations occurring as a result of the new law could be accommodated without adverse effect to the airspace.

undergoes maintenance at Portland International AirportSouthwest started selling tickets under the new law on October 19, 2006. Highlights of the agreement are the immediate elimination of through-ticketing prohibitions, and unrestricted flights to domestic destinations eight years after the legislation takes effect. This agreement was a resounding victory for Southwest Airlines because nationwide service became possible, and the law defined the maximum number of gates at Love Field. Southwest controls all of the Love Field gates except for the two each that American and Continental control. The future of the Legend Airlines terminal for use by commercial airlines is in doubt because of the limit on number of gates.

Southwest remains the dominant passenger airline at Love Field, maintains its headquarters, hangars, and flight simulators adjacent thereto, and reflects its ties to Love Field in its ticker symbol (LUV).

Despite the restrictions on its home base, Southwest proceeded to build a successful business on an unusual model: flying multiple short, quick trips into the secondary (more efficient and less costly) airports of major cities, using primarily only one aircraft type, the Boeing 737.

Destinations Southwest Airlines currently flies to 64 destinations throughout the United States of America. The airline added its 64th destination on August 26, 2007 when it resumed service from San Francisco, California.

Current service , with a Boeing 737 parked at a gateSouthwest does not use the more traditional "Spoke-hub distribution paradigm" flight routing system of most major airlines, preferring instead the "Point-to-point transit" system. Currently, Southwest serves 64 cities in 32 states, with more than 3,200 flights a day. It has notably large operations in certain airports. Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport has non-stop service to almost all of Southwest's locations. Other airports with large Southwest operations include Chicago Midway International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Orlando International Airport, Tampa International Airport and Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, with all of these airports operating non-stop flights to more than half of the Southwest system. An average of 80 percent of Southwest passengers are local passengers, meaning only 20 percent of all passengers are connecting passengers. This is significantly higher than most airlines, where passengers often connect in hub cities.

As part of its effort to control costs, Southwest tries to use secondary airports which generally have lower costs and may, or may not be, more convenient to travelers than the major airports to the same destinations. For example, Southwest flies to Chicago Midway International Airport in Chicago, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in South Florida, Dallas Love Field in Dallas, William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire, and T. F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island, instead of O'Hare International Airport, Miami International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and Logan International Airport in Boston, respectively. Southwest also serves the New York Metropolitan area at Long Island MacArthur Airport.

in Burbank, CaliforniaSouthwest makes exceptions to the philosophy of serving secondary airports by flying into some larger airports in major cities, such as Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport. In the Los Angeles market Southwest flies to both the major city airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and to three of the four secondary airports, Bob Hope Airport, John Wayne Airport, and LA/Ontario International Airport (it does not serve Long Beach Airport). With the restoration of service out of San Francisco International Airport on August 26, 2007, Southwest now serves all three airports in the San Francisco Bay Area; the other two being Oakland International Airport and San Jose International Airport.

Southwest withdrew from San Francisco International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in favor of using smaller airports with fewer operations nearby. In February 2007, Southwest announced its intent to return to San Francisco International Airport as its next city opening, and began service to SFO on August 26, 2007. The airline also once served Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado but withdrew in 1986 because of excessive ATC delays during poor weather exacerbated by minimal separation between the runways. Southwest returned to Denver in 2006 with service to the new Denver International Airport. Besides Houston (Intercontinental) and Denver (Stapleton International), the airline has withdrawn completely from airports in Beaumont, Texas and Detroit, Michigan (Detroit City Airport).

On October 5, 2006, Southwest Airlines started operations at Washington Dulles International Airport with 12 daily flights from two gates in Concourse B.

Southwest is the largest intra-state airline in California, with 674 flights total in the state, 355 of which are intra-California.

Markets lacking Southwest service Due to intense competition from near-monopoly airlines such as Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines and others, some markets are not cost-effective for Southwest. New York City-area flights are serviced from Long Island MacArthur Airport or through Southwest's codeshare with ATA Airlines to LaGuardia Airport instead of directly through the three main New York-area airports (LaGuardia Airport, JFK International Airport, or Newark Liberty International). Other large cities without Southwest service include Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, Memphis International Airport, General Mitchell International Airport, and Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.

With the exception of Florida, the southeastern part of the U.S. route map geographically has a large string of voids. There are only four cities in the whole region - Birmingham, Alabama, Nashville, Tennessee, Raleigh, North Carolina and Jackson, Mississippi. Another void also persists in the mid northern part of the US stretching from Wisconsin to Montana/Wyoming and also Alaska.

For Seattle in 2005, Southwest proposed service to Boeing Field, which is a smaller airport closer to downtown than Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. However, King County leaders refused to allow a terminal to be built or service to begin.{{cite news | title = Southwest Airlines addresses rejected offer at Boeing Field in King County | author = Airline Industry Information | date = [2005-10-12 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CWU/is_2005_Oct_12/ai_n15691518 | accessdate =2007-06-10-->

At this time, Southwest does not serve any destinations outside the United States. While other low cost carriers such as AirTran Airways, Frontier Airlines, and JetBlue Airways have started to fly to international destinations, Southwest Airlines has not ruled out the possibility of an international market in the future, as they are within range of their 737-700 aircraft. CEO Gary Kelly stated in June of 2007 that because of shrinking profits, the airline will likely slow its rate of expansion.{{cite news | title = Southwest Airlines Mulls Slowing Expansion | date = [2007-06-10 | url = http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1181087199.html | accessdate =2007-06-10-->

Top ten airports The following airports, as of July 20, 2007, are the top ten most served by Southwest Airlines:{| class="toccolours sortable" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"|+ Southwest Airlines top ten airports|- bgcolor=lightblue!City!Daily departures!Number of gates!Nonstop cities served!Service established|-|McCarran International Airport|232|21|53|1982|-|Chicago Midway International Airport|227|29|47|1985|-|Sky Harbor International Airport|205|24|42|1982|-|Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport|180|26|40|1993|-|Oakland International Airport|148|11|21|1989|-|William P. Hobby Airport|146|16|29|1971|-|Dallas Love Field Airport|133|14|15|1971|-|Los Angeles International Airport|120|11|19|1982|-|Orlando International Airport|116|12|33|1996|-|San Diego International Airport|96|10|16|1982|}

New service On June 27, 2007, Southwest Airlines announced substantial additions to their route schedule, adding new nonstop flights (mainly out of Denver) which are slated to begin November 4, 2007.

On February 9, 2007, Southwest Airlines announced internally that it was planning to restart operations at San Francisco International Airport, a station the airline closed in 2001.{{cite news | coauthors = Witter, Lameen | title = Southwest Airlines Announces San Francisco Treat | date = [2007-05-11 | url = http://www.yachtchartersmagazine.com/read/374715.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-10 --> Southwest CEO Gary C. Kelly has stated that the airline plans to commence service at SFO beginning in the "early fall" of 2007. On May 11, 2007, in an e-mail to Rapid Rewards members, Southwest announced that service to and from San Francisco would begin August 26th with eight daily nonstops to San Diego International Airport, seven to McCarran International Airport and three to Chicago's Chicago Midway International Airport.

Southwest also announced that they will be participating in Disney's Magical Express program in Orlando, FL. The program allows passengers to check their bags through from their home airport through to their rooms at a Walt Disney World resort.

Effective November 4, 2007

Effective February 4, 2008

Discontinued service Effective November 4, 2007

International service Southwest Airlines has set a goal to begin international services or ticket international flights in 2009. Services are likely to be operated by ATA. Destinations may include Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico. In 2010, plans to partner with other carriers for transatlantic and transpacific flights. European service may be operated by Southwest. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/19/business/NA-FIN-COM-US-Southwest-International-Flights.php/ Evolution at Southwest, Aviation Week and Space Technology, September 3, 2007, p. 46 (interview with Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President Strategy Procurement and Technology)

The Southwest Effect . Southwest and US Airways are the dominant carriers at McCarran International AirportThe success and profitability of Southwest's business model led to a common trend being named after the company: The The Southwest effect. Since Southwest's original mission in Texas was to make it less expensive than driving between two points (in the early 1970s, during the first major energy cost crisis in the U.S.), it developed a template for entering markets at rates that allowed the airline to be profitable, yet only on the basis of lean operations and high aircraft use. The key concept to the Southwest Effect is that when a low-fare carrier (or any aggressive and innovative company) enters a market, the market itself changes, and usually grows dramatically. For example, when fares drop by 50% from their historical averages, the number of new customers in that market may not just double, but actually quadruple, or more.

Southwest has been a major inspiration to other low-cost airlines, and its business model has been repeated many times around the world. Europe's easyJet and Ryanair as well as Canada's WestJet, are some of the best known airlines to follow Southwest's business strategy in that continent (though easyJet operates two different aircraft models today). Other airlines with a business model based on Southwest's system include New Zealand's Freedom Air , and Malaysia AirAsia (the first and biggest LCC in Asia) and Thailand's Nok Air.

Morris Air One airline influenced by Southwest was Morris Air, founded by June Morris and David Neeleman, based in Utah and operating in the northwestern U.S. Southwest Airlines purchased Morris Air and absorbed the capital and routes into its inventory and service. David Neeleman worked with Southwest for a short period. When his non-compete agreement expired, Neeleman founded JetBlue Airways, a competing airline that also incorporates many principles and practices pioneered by Southwest, including building a positive, warm employee culture and operating a simple fleet.{{cite book | last = Peterson | first = Barbara | title = Blue Streak: Inside jetBlue, the Upstart that Rocked an Industry | publisher = Portfolio Hardcover | date = 2004 | id = ISBN 1-59184-058-9 -->

TranStar Airlines Southwest Airlines has mostly pursued a strategy of internal growth, rather than by acquisition of other airlines as commonly occurs. However, in addition to acquisition of Morris Air Transport (see above), Southwest did acquire competitor Muse Air in 1985, which operated McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. Muse Air was renamed TranStar Airlines.

Icelandair In 1997, Southwest and Icelandair entered into interline and marketing agreements allowing for joint fares, coordinated schedules, and transfer of passenger luggage between the two airlines at Baltimore. Icelandair operated flights between Baltimore and Keflavik Airport in Iceland. Connecting service between several U.S. cities and several European cities appeared in the Southwest timetable {{cite news | author = Rob Kaiser | title = Southwest may add cities to Iceland deal | publisher = Baltimore Business Journal | date = [1997-02-21 | url = http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/1997/02/24/story6.html?page=1 | accessdate = 2007-06-10--> The frequent flyer programs were not included in the agreement. This arrangement lasted for several years but is no longer in existence.

ATA Airlines ATA Airlines, one of Southwest Airlines main competitors in the Chicago market, historically operated out of Chicago Midway International Airport alongside Southwest. ATA declared bankruptcy, and in 2004, Southwest injected capital into ATA that (among other things) would have resulted in Southwest's 27.5% ownership stake in ATA upon their exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

In a departure from its traditional "go it alone" strategy, Southwest entered into its first domestic codesharing arrangement with ATA, which enabled Southwest Airlines to serve ATA markets in Hawaii, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and LaGuardia Airport.

In late 2005, ATA secured $100 million in additional financing from the firm of Matlin Patterson, and Southwest's original deal with ATA was modified such that Southwest no longer retained the 27.5% stake (or any other financial interest) in ATA. The codeshare arrangement, however, continues to remain in place and has expanded, with some internal controversy, to include all of ATA's 17 destinations and all of Southwest's 63 destinations. In 2006, Southwest's pilot union approved a codeshare sideletter to their contract with limitations on the growth of this and other codeshare agreements. While these restrictions today are minor, outsourcing remains a growing concern in the unions current contract negotiations.

During 2006, Southwest Airlines began marketing ATA only flights. ATA's dependence on the Southwest network continued to grow in 2006, and today ATA offers over 70 flights a week to Hawaii from Southwest's hubs in PHX, LAS, LAX, ONT, and OAK. Additional connecting service is available to many other cities across the United States. Plans have been announced for ATA to offer exclusive international service for Southwest by 2010. Southwest today has taken over all ground operations for ATA at MDW, OAK, PHX, LAX, and LAS. These contracts provide that Southwest ramp personnel will now handle all ground operations (loading of aircraft, ground servicing, etc.) for ATA. The details of these contracts have not been made public but represent Southwest's and ATA's growing mutually beneficial codeshare relationship. Presently, there is no plan to open the ATA/Southwest codeshare to ATA's sister carriers; North American Airlines or World Airways, even though they are co-owned by the same corporate entity created from ATA Holdings.

Beginning in February 2005, ATA was run by John G. Denison, Southwest's former Chief Financial Officer. Effective January 1, 2007, Denison turned things over to Subodh Karnik, who is now President and Chief Executive Officer. Denison remains ATA's Chairman and Chairman of Global Aero Logistics Inc., the new name of ATA Holdings.

Corporate culture Intertwined with Southwest's innovative business model has been a consistent emphasis on the value of people, both customers and employees. From the beginning of its operations, Southwest urged employees to have fun doing their work, and to make the experience of flying Southwest not only convenient but enjoyable.

Southwest experience The experience of flying on Southwest is quite different from that of most other U.S. airlines from beginning to end.

Tickets cannot be purchased through common online venues like Orbitz or Travelocity, although a minority are booked through travel agents. However, most of Southwest tickets are issued directly by the airline over the phone or online at the company's website which features Web-only fare discounts.

Unlike other major airlines, Southwest allows passengers to change reservations without penalty (save the potentially additional cost of the new ticket). While this provides flexibility to customers, Southwest does not allow same-day standby travel on a different flight (usually a free service at other airlines) without upgrading to maximum fare.

Customers are not assigned seats; rather, they are assigned to one of three "boarding groups" depending on their check-in time (earlier check-ins get to board earlier), and are left to choose their own seats on the plane, which helps the airline to board passengers faster. At the May 2006 shareholders meeting, Southwest management announced a study of potentially adopting an assigned-seating system in 2008, as part of a reservations-technology overhaul now under way. In Q4 of 2007, Southwest will announce a new boarding/seating method.{{cite news | author = Dan Reed | title = Southwest plans new seating policy, schedule changes | publisher = USA Today | date = [2006-06-27 | url = http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-06-27-southwest-plans_N.htm | accessdate = 2007-09-17--> No details of the new boarding process have been released but Southwest has been testing a new process at the San Antonio airport which assigns passengers a numeric position in the boarding queue. {{cite web | last = Susie | first = Boersma | title = Enhanced Boarding | publisher = Southwest Airlines Blog | date = [2007-08-23 | url = http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/08/23/enhanced-boarding | accessdate = 2007-09-17-->

As a result of the boarding policy, several independent companies have offered automatic check-in services for Southwest. These companies take customer's orders for check-in ahead of the 24 hour mark (when the airline makes a flight available for online check-in) and transmit the necessary data for check-in to Southwest as soon as the airline opens up online check-in for a particular flight. The result of this service is that people using it generally get the first boarding group (known as the "A" boarding group). These early check-in sites include iboarda.com and CheckinSooner.com. Southwest has not embraced this practice and has sued boardfirst.com in federal court with trial set for fall 2007.

Southwest still allows three pieces of luggage to be checked in free as opposed to the limit of two on the domestic flights of some other U.S. airlines.

In the past, meal service was less than on full service airlines (now often called "legacy airlines"), with shorter flights receiving just a single small snack and soft drink, and longer flights (with a duration of about 3 hours or more) meriting a "Snack Pack" of prepackaged goods. In recent years these meals in a bag typically exceed the food served on full-service airlines like United Airlines or American Airlines. Southwest also offers free in-flight beverages (excluding alcohol). Although there is no video entertainment, Southwest is known for colorful boarding announcements and crews that burst out in song. The singing is unusual, and is quite popular among customers, but has been noted by some travel critics as being offensive and intrusive.{{cite news | author = David Grossman | title = I don't hate Southwest anymore | publisher = USA Today | date = [2005-10-17 | url = http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/grossman/2005-10-14-grossman_x.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-10-->

For all the leanness in comforts, which helped it pass through the post-9/11 travel slump as one of the few profitable major American airlines, Southwest manages to maintain excellent customer satisfaction ratings. In 2006, according to the United States Department of Transportation December year end operating statistics, Southwest ranked number one (lowest number of complaints) of all U.S. airlines for customer complaints, with 0.18 per 100,000 customers enplaned. Southwest Airlines has consistently received the fewest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded of all major U.S. carriers that have been reporting statistics to the Department of Transportation (DOT) since September 1987, which is when the DOT began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics and publishing its Air Travel Consumer Report.

Rapid Rewards Southwest's frequent flier program is called Rapid Rewards. Currently, customers receive one credit for each one-way trip (even though the flight may have stopovers). A free ticket, expiring after 11 months, is automatically issued when a member accumulates 16 credits in a 24-month period. Double Rapid Rewards credits used to be awarded for online booking, but this policy was modified at the end of 2003. At that time the bonus was reduced to .5 credit for each segment booked online, (i.e., each round-trip ticket booked online received a total of 3 Rapid Rewards credits). This was discontinued in April 2005. In addition, one-half credit is also earned for using a Southwest partner to book any car rental and/or hotel stay, regardless of whether a Southwest flight is involved. This arrangement has won numerous Freddy Awards over the years.

In February 2006, Southwest instituted capacity controls to redeeming its free tickets. This means that the airline limits the seats offered to frequent travelers using free certificates on each flight, whereas previously if there was a seat available, one could use the award, provided the passenger was not flying on one of the five blackout dates.

In early 2006, Southwest expanded its codeshare agreement with ATA Airlines and now allows redemption of award tickets on Hawaii flights at the rate of two awards per round trip flight. Southwest and ATA stress that reward availability to Hawaii will be very limited. Travelers can also earn twice the normal number of credits when they purchase airfare on Hawaii-bound flights.

Playful, effective advertising The company, from inception, employed humor in its advertising. Examples include "Just Plane Smart," "The Somebody Else Up There Who Loves You" and "THE Low Fare Airline". The airline's current slogan is "A Symbol of Freedom". A select history of print and video ads are available on the company website.

Since the 1990s, Southwest has been running a television ad campaign based on the phrase "Wanna get away?" The commercials present comical, embarrassing situations in which people find themselves wanting to "get away". Most ads are accompanied by the sound clip " You are now free to move about the country"; self-parody of the in-flight announcement that "you are now free to move about the cabin".

The public address system "ding" has become synonymous with Southwest Airlines, and inspired the name of an online ticket offer program, Ding!.

The Southwest Airlines television commercial, “Flight Attendant,” was named in Adweek’s ‘Best Spots’ in August 2006.



"Just Plane Smart" Shortly after Southwest started using the "Just Plane Smart" motto, Stevens Aviation, who had been using "Plane Smart" for their motto, threatened a trademark lawsuit.

Instead of a lawsuit, the CEOs for both companies staged an arm wrestling match. Held at the now demolished Dallas Sportatorium (the famed wrestling facility) and set for two out of three rounds, the loser of each round was to pay $5,000 to the charity of their choice, with the winner gaining the use of the trademarked phrase. A promotional video was created showing the CEOs "training" for the bout (with CEO Herb Kelleher being helped up during a sit up where a cigarette and glass of whiskey (Wild Turkey 101) was waiting) and distributed among the employees and as a video press release along with the video of the match itself. Herb Kelleher lost the match for Southwest, with Stevens Aviation winning the rights to the phrase. Kurt Herwald, CEO of Stevens Aviation, immediately granted the use of "Just Plane Smart" to Southwest Airlines. The net result was both companies having use of the trademark, $15,000 going to charity and a healthy dose of goodwill publicity for both companies.

Colorful personalities Southwest employees are generally well-known for friendliness, (for example, one Aviator is known to greet passengers while playing the banjo); this is often attributed to a unique "love-based" corporate atmosphere that made chairman and founder Herb Kelleher a celebrity in the business world. The President of Southwest is corporate secretary Colleen Barrett, who has been with the company since day one. Southwest's Chief financial officer is Laura Wright (Southwest CFO). In July 2007, it was announced that Herb Kelleher will resign his position as Chairman effective May 2008. Colleen Barrett will leave her post on the Board of Directors and Corporate Secretary in May 2008 and President in July 2008. Both will remain active employees of Southwest Airlines.

Southwest has 1,133 married couples. In other words, 2,266 Southwest Employees have spouses who also work for the company.

Concerns attributed to labor unrest and complaints by the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) representing Southwest flight attendants were reportedly a factor in the recent resignation of Kelleher's hand-picked replacement as CEO. Jim Parker resigned in July 2004 and was replaced by Chief Financial Officer Gary Kelly.{{cite news | author = Trebor Banstetter | title = Southwest Airlines CEO quits | publisher = Knight Ridder Newspapers | date = [2004-07-16 | url = http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001980855_southwestair16.html | accessdate = 2007-06-10 -->

Organized labor Although Southwest is considered a "low fare" airline, it is heavily unionized compared with other airlines. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20040716/ai_n11465633 The Southwest Airline Pilots' Association, a union not affiliated with the Air Line Pilots Association, International, represents the airline's pilots. http://www.swapa.org/ The Aircraft Maintenance Technicians' are represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).http://www.amfanatl.org/

Airline The American version of the reality show Airline (US TV series) showcased Southwest Airlines passengers and employees in daily mishaps and life at some of Southwest's major airports (BWI, MDW, LAX, & HOU). The show premiered January 5, 2004 on the A&E Network, but was canceled after 70 episodes on December 15, 2005.

Fleet with the airline's new leather seating

Current fleet The Southwest Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of September 2007:{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"

|- bgcolor=#FFcc99!Aircraft!Total!Passengers
(Economy)!Routes!Notes|-|Boeing 737#737-300|align=center|194|137|Short-medium haul|Launch customer|-|Boeing 737#737-500|align=center|25|122|Short haul|Launch customer|-|Boeing 737#737-700|align=center|293
(132 orders)|137|All routes|Launch customer
All but 2 are fitted with Wingtip device#Winglet.|}

The airline operates more Boeing 737s in its fleet than any other airline in the world; Southwest is often cited as an example of an airline streamlining operations by having only one type of aircraft. However, Southwest operated leased Boeing 727-200 aircraft during the late-1970s and again in the mid-1980s and subsidiary TranStar Airlines operated DC-9s and MD-80s during the mid-1980s. Southwest has been a launch customer for all three of the Boeing 737 variants it currently operates, and was the first airline to put both the Model 500 and next-generation Model 700 into service. Southwest has a mix of old and new aircraft with both its "classic" and "next generation" 737 aircraft. {{citenews] | title = The Boeing Next-Generation 737 Family | url = http://www.boeing.com/commercial/737family/background.html | accessdate = 2006-06-10 -->

As of September 2007, Southwest has an average fleet age of 9.8 years, and fly an average of about 7 flights per day. The average aircraft trip length is 627 miles with an average duration of one hour and 49 minutes. This means the daily utilization of each plane is, on average, 12 hours and 30 minutes.

Southwest's seats are the same width as any other operator of 737s in the United States. However seats are approximately one inch narrower than Airbus Airbus A320#A320 series operated by low cost carriers such as Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, US Airways, Skybus Airlines and several other competitors. Southwest's seat pitch averages between 32 and 33 inches, which compares to average of 31 to 32 inches for U.S. domestic airlines. However, rival low-fare carrier JetBlue Airways offers from 32 inches to 36 inches.http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/JetBlue_Airways/information.php

Southwest's 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft are not equipped with glass cockpit technology, as the 737-300s, 737-400s, and 737-500s of some other airlines are. Instead, the flight decks are fitted with analog gauges, more similar to those of the earlier 737-100 and 737-200 variants. Note the analog attitude deviation indicator (ADI) and horizontal situation indicator (HSI) (the blue-colored instrument and one below it) in this Southwest 737-3H4 and note the electronic versions of the same instruments (EADI and EHSI) in this United Airlines 737-322. There are electronic displays throughout the cockpit of the 737-700 and other "Next Generation" 737 variants, and Southwest has programmed their 737-7H4 models to emulate the appearance of the 737-300 and 737-500 for standardization purposes.

Since production of the 737-300 and 737-500 has ended, recent Southwest orders have been exclusively for the 737-700 model.

Southwest is the world's largest operator of the 737. Their current active fleet is over 500 aircraft. In terms of total 737 production (all models in history), deliveries of new aircraft from Boeing to Southwest accounts for approximately 9% of total production. Southwest has one of the largest fleets in North America.

Retired fleet {| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="3" style="border-collapse:collapse"|+ Southwest Airlines Retired Fleet|- bgcolor=#FFcc99!Aircraft!Year Retired!Replacement!Notes|-|Boeing 737#737-200|2005|Boeing 737#737-700|Southwest's first aircraft type|-|}

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